Everybody likes an intelligent person. Everybody wants to be friends with an intelligent person. But how can you tell if one is really intelligent? Is it by looks or hairstyle, or accent or carriage? Are there other pointers that reveal a person as being intelligent? Well, scientifically, studies have been carried out on intelligent people to know what they have in common and what sets them apart from others. Here are some of these traits that intelligent people tend to possess:

1. They spend time to improve on themselves
Being intelligent takes a lot of work to maintain. In simple terms, being intelligent or smart os earned. Intelligent people often read up a lot or try to learn new things to expand their knowledge and be well versed in different areas, which give them the advantage of being able to fit into any conversation.
That one is well versed in an area doesn’t make one intelligent. True intelligence cuts across numerous topics and areas.

2. They are mostly nocturnal people
Sleep researchers divide people into two groups, based on whether they exhibit ‘morningness’ or ‘eveningness’. According to a recent study, eveningness is an evolutionary advancement that marks out ‘more intelligent individuals’. Those with low or average IQ tend to restrict their activities primarily to daytime.
This, however, hasn’t been accepted generally and doesn’t mean that there aren’t some intelligent people that are daytime people.

3. They are very open-minded and adaptable
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “Adaptation involves making a change in oneself in order to cope with the environment, but it can also mean changing the environment or finding an entirely new one.” Intelligent people exhibit this trait a lot, and thus, can be said to be quick to adapt.

4. They are skeptics
Adaptation is not the only thing intelligent people know how to do, they also resist anything and everything. Although, both traits (adaptation and resistance may be contrasting), smart people know how to accommodate both of them. They only believe or accept when they have been presented with enough facts.

5. They ask Thought-provoking questions
This should not come as a surprise. Intelligent people know how to ask the right questions because of how fast their brains processes and accepts information. It shows that they have a working knowledge of things and are highly observant.

6. They like being factual
When in an argument with an intelligent person, best believe that you’d need more than just hearsays or beliefs to topple them. They have a very high level of skepticism and so, do not take things on face value unless they are presented with hard facts.

There are still a lot of things that one can use to recognize intelligent and we have only given you a few here. Do you have any other tips on how one can tell a person is intelligent? Feel free to share it with us in the comment section, so other readers can read and learn as well.